A field experiment was conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to standardize the effect of different non-chemical methods of weed management practices on growth and yield parameters in organic rice [CO (R) 50]. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications and 10 treatments. Results revealed that the higher values of growth parameters viz., plant height, number of tillers/m2, leaf area index, dry matter production and yield parameters viz., productive tillers, number of filled grains/panicle, number of unfilled grains/panicle, panicle weight and grain yield were recorded under mulching with biodegradable polyethelene sheet and this was at par with application of rice bran at 2 t/ha on 3 DAT followed by (fb) hand weeding on 35 DAT. Reduction in growth and yield parameters was recorded by unweeded check. Higher root length, root volume and root dry weight were recorded in hand weeding on 15 DAT followed by azolla inoculation on the same day and considered as remunerative in organic rice as it gave the higher B : C ratio.

Field experiments were conducted in two locations in China to determine the effects of nitrogen (N) deficiency on plant growth and leaf photosynthesis of two super hybrid rice cultivars grown under no-till direct seeded conditions. Results showed that total dry mass was reduced by 39-48% in N-deficient plants. Leaf area index was decreased by 45-58% under N-deficient conditions. Less leaf number per unit land area resulting from reduced tiller number per unit area and small leaf size were responsible for the small leaf area index in N-deficient plants. N-deficient plants had 19-26% lower leaf N content and 7-12% lower relative chlorophyll content in flag leaves. In parallel with this, net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were decreased by 14-24% and 14-42%, respectively, in N-deficient plants. However, the depression of stomatal conductance did not explain the lower photosynthetic capacity because intercellular CO2 concentration was not definitely reduced in N-deficient plants. Our results highlight the need for greater fundamental understanding of the effects of N deficiency on mesophyll function in no-till direct seeded super hybrid rice.

Thirty field experiments were conducted during rabi seasons of 2014-15 and 2015-16 across farmers’ fields of four villages of district Faridabad, Haryana, India using wheat as test crop to evaluate the effects of soil and foliar mode of application of zinc fertilizer on grain yield and Zn concentration. The application of Zn fertilizer in soil increased grain yield of wheat significantly over control at few locations during both the years where low Zn soils existed i. e. from 3.9 to 12.6% and 3.3 to 10.5% during 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively, over no soil Zn addition. However, foliar treatment of Zn fertilizer on grain yield was quiet less effective. The foliar Zn application resulted in significant increases in grain Zn content over control at all locations. Maximum increase in grain Zn concentration with foliar spray of Zn was 125.73 and 122.82% higher during 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively, over control. It was found that foliar application of Zn is an important agronomic practice for the farmers to enrich wheat grains with zinc. Increasing grain yield by soil application and grain Zn concentration by foliar application of zinc fertilizer also provides additional positive impacts in terms of economic benefits and to secure nutritional quality and mitigate hidden hunger.

The field experiment was conducted at farmers’ fields in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts of Punjab to see the effect of KVK intervention in controlling mixed weed flora in wheat during 2011-12. Five different herbicide treatments were evaluated in randomized block design. Application of all the herbicides caused a significant reduction in the weed density and weed dry matter over untreated plot. The effective tillers, grains/ear and grain yield were affected significantly by different herbicides application. Spray of metribuzin 125 g/ha+2,4-D sodium salt @ 625 g/ha provided efficient control of grassy weeds as well as broad leaf weeds in wheat crop and increased grain yield of wheat significantly and gave highest benefit : cost ratio.

The field experiments were conducted at Khalsa College, Amritsar to study the nitrogen management by using LCC in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) on sandy loam soil, low in organic carbon and available N and high in available P and K during the rabi and kharif seasons of 2014-15. The experiments comprised three nitrogen management treatments including control, recommended N and LCC replicated four times for both the crop seasons. LCC and recommended nitrogen treatments had shown significant effects on yield and yield parameters over control (no nitrogen). LCC produced the maximum wheat grain (43.8 q/ha) and maize grain (54.4 q/ha) yields followed by recommended N (41.3 and 51.3 q/ha) and both were statistically at par. Total income, net profit and B : C ratio were also highest in LCC than other nitrogen management treatments in both the crops. However, higher NUE in wheat and maize was recorded in LCC over other nitrogen management treatments because of less amount of nitrogen used.

Dry matter production depends on the interception of radiation. In classical concept, the LAI is the principal growth index for determining the dry matter production as well as the yield of the crop. We hypothesized that sunlit leaf area index (L*) was a better index than the LAI for determining the dry matter production. Interception of PAR by mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] varieties changes the sunlit leaf area index of the crop. This paper investigates the sunlit leaf area index (L*) and the interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) by four mungbean varieties (V1–Pant Mung-5, V2–Bireswar, V3–RMG-62 and V4–Sukumar) under three different dates of sowing (D1–15th February, D2–1st March and D3–15th March) and their relation with dry matter accumulation and leaf area index in the Gangetic plains of eastern India during the summer seasons of 2010 and 2011. The radiation interception increased with the age of crop and was found to be the highest when sown on 15th March. The interaction effect between interception of PAR and LAI showed that with the increase in LAI there was a corresponding increase in the interception of radiation which might have been due to the increased number and volume of leaves in the crop. 62.03 and 52.63% of the total variability were explained, respectively, by both dependent (interception of PAR) and independent sets (LAI). With L* and dry matter accumulation, it was seen that L* on 39 and 46 DAE significantly increased the dry matter production. It was also observed that L* increased when radiation was intercepted on 25 to 39 DAE. 67.58 and 79.55% of the total variability were explained, respectively, by both dependent (L*) and independent sets. It was evident that the mungbean might be sown during the first fortnight of March for better dry matter accumulation in this zone.

Front line demonstration is a systematic and replicable tool to disseminate and evaluate recommended technologies among the farmers. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gonda comes under tarai agro-climatic condition of U. P. which had conducted 75 demonstrations on pigeonpea since 2011-12 to 2015-16 in five adopted locations. The critical inputs were prioritized on existing production technologies through participatory rural appraisal (PRA), farmer’s interaction and feedback. The five year’s data revealed that an average higher yield of demonstration field was obtained (18.31 q/ha) over local check (10.02 q/ha) with additional yield of 8.29 q/ha. Similarly, net average economic return of demonstration plot was found Rs. 41652/ha over local check (Rs. 20410/ha) with additional return of Rs. 21242/ha. The average technological gap, extension gap, technological index and increased B : C ratio were found 9.69 q/ha, 8.29 q/ha, 34.61% and 0.95, respectively.

An experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2014-15 at the research farm of soil science, Allahabad School of Agriculture, laid out in randomized block design, consisted nine treatments and three replications. It was observed that growth and yield of mustard in treatment N80P60K40 vermicompost @ 10 t/ha was maximum. Maximum plant height (139.22 cm), number of leaves/plant (21.22), number of branches/plant (10.77), fresh weight/plant (87.78 g), dry weight/plant (62.25 g), test weight (4.17 g) and total seed yield (23.19 q/ha) were found to be significant over all other treatments. Adequate plant nutrient supply holds the key for improving the growth and seed production of crop.

A field experiment was conducted at College Agronomy Farm, Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat) to study the response of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) to different sowing dates and seed rates under middle Gujarat conditions during rabi season of the year 2013-14 in loamy sand soil, low in organic carbon and available nitrogen, medium in available phosphorus and high in available potash with pH of 7.58 and EC of 0.23 dS/m at 0-15 cm soil depth. The experiment was laid out under split plot design with four replications with 16 treatment combinations consisting of four sowing dates i. e. 20th October (D1), 30th October (D2), 10th November (D3) and 20th November (D4) allotted to main plot and four levels of seed rates i. e. 6 kg/ha (S1), 8 kg/ha (S2), 10 kg/ha (S3) and 12 kg/ha (S4) were allotted to sub-plot. Results revealed that higher seed (555 kg/ha) and straw (3380 kg/ha) yield as well as maximum net realization (Rs. 43483/ha) and BCR (1 : 3.55) could be obtained when linseed was sown on 30th October, keeping seed rate of 12 kg/ha.

The present study delineated the available sulphur, micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B) and multinutrient status of soil of district Auriaya (U. P.). For this, GPS based 187 random surface soil samples (0-15 cm) were collected from all seven blocks of Auriaya district, Uttar Pradesh during October and November 2014. The collected soil samples were analyzed for available S, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B and data were computed for micronutrient deficiency. The analytical results showed that the deficiencies extent of these nutrients was in the order of Zn 43.32%, S 36.36%, Boron 17.11%, Fe 7.49%, Cu 4.28% and Mn 2.67%, in the soil samples of district Auriaya, Uttar Pradesh. The multinutrient deficiencies were recorded as 1% each for B+Zn and S+Zn, and 0.5% each for S+B+Zn and S+B.

This investigation was directed to characterizing 30 Assam Lemon accessions based on morphological and biochemical characters. The dissimilarity matrix ranged from 4.72 to 11.60 indicating diverse nature of collected accessions. The lowest coefficient of dissimilarity (4.72) was observed between KP-1 and TZ-3 signifying that they were closely related. The highest coefficient of dissimilarity (11.60) was observed between TZ-1 and KN-2 signifying that they were the most distant of all the collected accessions. Dendogram based on the Euclidean distance using UPGMA cluster analysis of morphological and biochemical characters, differentiated 30 accessions in to three major clusters, cluster-I, cluster-II and cluster-III. Thus, cluster analysis revealed sufficient variation between the collected accessions by grouping them into different clusters. The principal component analysis (PCA) of the traits revealed that the first 12 principal components were important out of total 30 components and they accounted for 82.71% of the total variability. Based on PCA and correlation matrix of 34 morphological and biochemical traits, 23 traits were identified for easy evaluation and preliminary characterization of Assam Lemon germplasm. The clustering pattern based on 34 traits and that based on 23 traits were found to be identical indicating that the selected traits were likely to cover the existing diversity of the variety.

A field experiment was conducted during winter seasons of 2015-16 and 2016-17 study the effect of fertility levels on nutrient contents and uptake of field pea genotypes. The N, P, K, S nutrient contents in grain and straw deviated significantly due to different genotypes and fertility levels as well as their interactions. Pant Matar-4 as well as P60 S45 recorded significantly higher nutrient contents in grain and straw over the respective treatments. Amongst the genotypes, the uptake of these nutrients was found significantly higher in grain and straw of Pant Matar – 4 over other genotypes. The uptake nutrients of in grain and straw was found significantly higher due to increasing fertility levels upto P60S45 over P0S0. The highest nutrients uptake by field pea, producing a total biomass upto 32.45 q/ha with highest fertility level (P60S45), was 128.63 kg N, 50.01 kg P, 53.3 kg K, 17.18 kg S/ha. The findings suggest that due to heavy withdrawal of nutrients by field pea genotypes, the succeeding crop must be nourished properly based on soil test values.

A field experiment was conducted during winter seasons of 2015-16 and 2016-17 to study the effect of fertility levels on growth, yield and quality of field pea genotypes. Among the genotypes, Plant Matar-4 proved the most suitable which yielded 18.95 q/ha with net income up to Rs. 78789/ha having 28.79% grain protein. The most balanced and economical fertility level for field pea genotypes was P60S45 which gave the highest grain yield (18.09 q/ha), net income (Rs. 70815/ha) and grain protein (27.92%). The genotype Pant Matar-4 grown with highest fertility level (P60S45) further augmented these parameters (yield 23.21 q/ha and income Rs. 101731/ha).

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of different varieties of pea for late sowing. Seven varieties evaluated were VL-Ageti Matar-7, VM-12, VM-10, Swarna Tripti, Swarna Mukti, Swarna Amar and HUDP-15 at experimental farm of ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna during rabi season of 2016-17. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design and replicated thrice. The results of the experiment revealed that all the varieties exhibited considerable variation for most of the parameters studied. Among the varieties, VL-Ageti Matar-7 was observed to be earliest taking only 44.11 and 50.22 days for first flowering and days to first pod set, respectively, followed by VM-10 (54.44 and 58.89 days). Pod length and pod girth were maximum in VM-12 (8.04 and 1.19 cm, respectively). Number of seeds per pod and shelling percentage were found to be highest in VM-10 (8.25 and 54.33%, respectively). TSS was found to be highest in Swarna Tripti (18 0Brix) followed by VL-Ageti Matar-7 (17.01 0Brix), while lowest was observed in HUDP-15 (10.02 0Brix). In terms of yield and number of pods per plant, Swarna Tripti recorded highest yield/plot (17.80 kg) and number of pods/plant (11.83) which was followed by Swarna Mukti (14.14 kg and 8.86, respectively). Therefore, Swarna Tripti being the highest yielder can be recommended to the farmers for cultivation for late season.

A panel of 115 upland rice accessions of Assam was genotyped by using 45 SSR markers associated with major grain yield QTLs reported under drought stress. A total of 120 alleles were detected and the overall size of amplified products ranged from 60 to 500 bp. The number of alleles per loci varied from 2 to 4 with an average of 2.66 alleles per locus. The PIC values of markers ranged from 0.022 to 0.679 with an average value of 0.43. Low heterozygosity was observed among the cultivars with the average value of 0.083. The accessions were mainly grouped into two major clusters using different statistical method and software programmes. Population structure analysis revealed two major subgroups–SG 1 consisting of 44 accessions including drought susceptible check (Ranjit) and SG 2 consisting of 49 accessions including drought tolerant check (Nagina 22). The remaining 22 accessions were retained as admixture. The principal co-ordinates analysis revealed that first two coordinates explained the maximum variation of 18.06 and 5.5%, respectively. The AMOVA analysis revealed 20% of the molecular variation existed among population, 13% within individual, while 67% of variation was observed among the individuals. Lack of equilibrium among the groups was indicated by high FIT value of 0.873.

Marker assisted selection for resistance to Northern Corn Leaf Blight (NCLB) caused by Exserohilum turcicum has been carried out for three years at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, India. The objectives were to screen resistant and susceptible maize inbreds for E. turcicum to identify polymorphic SSR markers closely-linked to known genes for NCLB resistance and used these polymorphic markers to validate in F2 progenies. Among 36 inbred lines screened under artificial epiphytotic condition, lines DMIT 126 and DMIT 136 showed high resistance (score 1) and high susceptiblity (score 5) for TLB, respectively and were used to develop F2 population. Single marker analysis (SMA) was performed using 248 F2 plants to determine the strength of association between resistance-linked markers and disease resistance by calculating simple linear regression coefficient. Two markers Phi 330507 and Umc 1221 showed significant association with resistance to TLB with the R2 (PVE) and LOD score of 13.77 and 8.01%, 22.72 and 13.94, respectively. This result indicated that the validation of two SSR markers linked to TLB resistance was promising in application for molecular-assisted selection for improving TLB resistance in maize breeding programmes.